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Search found 19 matches

by AndyPep
December 3rd, 2010, 3:08 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Enough Oxygen for Life Found Millions of Years Too Early
Replies: 4
Views: 991

Re: Enough Oxygen for Life Found Millions of Years Too Early

Has anyone read the original Nov 11 Nature paper? I don't have a subscription, so cannot access it easily. From what I understand, oxygen was generated as a highly toxic waste of early biochemical processes, and only when enough was freely available in the atmosphere could it start being used direct...
by AndyPep
December 18th, 2009, 11:35 am
Forum: Comedy Club
Topic: Favourite humorous websites
Replies: 257
Views: 382416

Re: Favourite humorous websites

If only we could:
http://xkcd.com/258/
by AndyPep
February 12th, 2009, 1:01 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Poor relation
Replies: 2
Views: 1233

Poor relation

Did you know that as well as the publication of On the Origin by Darwin, 1859 also saw the publication of "On Liberty" by JS Mill. With the present state of liberty under the present regime, it seems something we should remember, rather than be completely overshadowed.
by AndyPep
June 10th, 2008, 4:17 pm
Forum: Comedy Club
Topic: Spotted on the net
Replies: 1
Views: 1735

Spotted on the net

Sometimes a humorous piece is worth sharing. Try this for a start
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... 0/religion

Andy
by AndyPep
June 1st, 2008, 5:25 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Florence Nightingale, Statistician
Replies: 4
Views: 2984

Re: Florence Nightingale, Statistician

Another side of the story is on this site of mathematical biographies: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Nightingale.html If the dates are correct, then the BBC programme (and Small's book) may be misleading. She collected data first, and then drew conclusions and then used the...
by AndyPep
February 8th, 2008, 6:15 pm
Forum: Religion
Topic: The Archbishop and Sharia Law
Replies: 27
Views: 4985

Re: The Archbishop and Sharia Law

There is so much wrong with the statement that none of the options in the poll are adequate to describe my opinion. The only thing that seems to make sense is that he is hoping to get exceptions for all religions so that he can bend the law for the Anglicans even though it lets everyone else do the ...
by AndyPep
January 28th, 2008, 11:05 am
Forum: Humanism, secularism, freethought...
Topic: Census 2001 Religious identity
Replies: 17
Views: 2845

Re: Census 2001 Religious identity

I'm one of those that did not say. I'm me, why should I classify myself? What does "identity" mean, anyway? My answer to this question is often: How would I tell whether I am this or that? What test do I apply? And then, what test can anyone else apply to determine whether I'm telling the truth? The...
by AndyPep
December 24th, 2007, 12:10 pm
Forum: Humanism, secularism, freethought...
Topic: How would you really like to celebrate Darwin Day?
Replies: 12
Views: 2004

Re: How would you really like to celebrate Darwin Day?

Two more scientists for consideration are: Isaac Newton, born 4 Jan 1643 (Gregorian) or 25 Dec 1642 (Julian), who not only created the mathematics needed for the analysis of motion, but also the idea that a theory could be separated from the physics to enable him to create his laws of motion by post...
by AndyPep
December 19th, 2007, 8:08 pm
Forum: Humanism, secularism, freethought...
Topic: My issues with secularism
Replies: 94
Views: 12691

Re: My issues with secularism

Hi Stuart, Like Maria, I don't see why I should either support or discourage your opinion. I think that everyone is perfectly capable of making up their own minds on any topic; what I object to is any form of proselytising, or salesmanship if you prefer, and the more strident or exaggerated, the mor...
by AndyPep
October 4th, 2007, 6:44 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Science and Islam
Replies: 3
Views: 1156

Why did they drift away from Science? I don't know, because I don't know enough; I've never studied the matter. But am always willing to guess wildly. Science is a peculiarly European notion. Going back to Euclid and earlier, we can see the germ in the idea of proof, that there might be some underly...
by AndyPep
October 4th, 2007, 9:03 am
Forum: Club Soda
Topic: The Alphabet Game
Replies: 3542
Views: 257118

natterjack
by AndyPep
October 3rd, 2007, 7:23 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Science and Islam
Replies: 3
Views: 1156

Science and Islam

This might not be the right place, but I'll try here. There is an article on Physics Today at http://ptonline.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_60/iss_8/49_1.shtml written by an outspoken Pakistani scientist giving some facts about the pitiful contribution the Islamic countries make to modern scien...
by AndyPep
October 1st, 2007, 7:43 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Cafe Scientifique - Glasgow
Replies: 6
Views: 2098

Bristol

I wonder what's going on at Bristol University. A couple of years ago, I invited Dr Stuart Burgess from their Mechanical Engineering Dept to talk in Bath (but not a Cafe Sci) on the "Design of Man". I knew he was inclined to believe the "design" theory, but thought I might as well let him loose on a...
by AndyPep
September 28th, 2007, 10:50 am
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Religion-erasing magic wand?
Replies: 23
Views: 7090

But what methods are justifiable if "it's dead but won't lie down"? To my mind, none. If this really is the case, then it means that there is a significant proportion of people for whom it is a natural part of their existence, and any attempt to change their minds will necessarily be coercive. What...
by AndyPep
September 15th, 2007, 7:12 pm
Forum: Social Club
Topic: Sudoku
Replies: 23
Views: 4364

Sudoku

Shortly after they started to appear, I soon got the hang of those printed, and so I wrote a program to solve them and show how the result was arrived at . After adding a number of rules for the solution process I lost interest. But the result is still available for anyone to use on a website if you...
by AndyPep
September 15th, 2007, 6:30 pm
Forum: Education
Topic: Languages in school
Replies: 18
Views: 5780

Re: Languages and the EU

Nick said: Hmmm. An interesting thought, but I wonder if there are decisive differences between English and Latin? Latin spread with the Roman Empire (obviously), but the divergence into different languages arose when the Romans left, and because the need to communicate over long distances largely ...
by AndyPep
September 14th, 2007, 8:36 pm
Forum: Education
Topic: Languages in school
Replies: 18
Views: 5780

Languages and the EU

What interests me about languages is how Europe is going to get out of its expensive impasse in insisting that everything is translated into all the official languages. Even before the latest increase in size, I heard that they could not find any Finnish - Greek interpreters, necessitating a time-co...
by AndyPep
September 11th, 2007, 5:30 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Could you pass GCSE Science?
Replies: 14
Views: 5140

Complaint against article

@Alan H

I've no idea what the complaint might be - it is just noted in brackets at the head of the article on the Times Online website. It's not worth speculating.
by AndyPep
September 10th, 2007, 4:48 pm
Forum: Sciences and pseudo-science
Topic: Could you pass GCSE Science?
Replies: 14
Views: 5140

Physics in The Times

Since I've not had any interaction with any exam papers for 40 years, I thought I'd have a look at this, and the issue seems worse than expected, reflecting very badly on journalism in The Times. 1. The article is now marked as being subject to a legal complaint. 2. Judging by the answers given here...